Building Change Resilience

What does that look like? Is it being able to demonstrate to a crowd? Maybe it is knowing that the information you share with others is of value? Could it be about being dressed to the nines and smooth talking your way through anything? Or is it having the confidence to say what you mean in any circumstance without being arrogant? However it is portrayed, self-assurance is one of the key characteristics of building your own resilience to change. But how does building my confidence help in the corporate environment? When you are self-assured, you are always moving forward and getting on with the task at hand. There is no questioning that you have the skills to achieve the required results and you share your ideas, contributing towards the success of the team. When you are self-assured, you are not afraid to ask questions or to admit that you don't know what you don't know. You also don't mind acting the fool at times, either to get the point across or simply ju

Be socially connected People congregate together, whether it is in a city, church, rock concert or on Facebook! FB is based on the need for people to connect. And love it or hate it, it took less than 8 years for Facebook to become integrated into the global language. So why do we do feel this need to connect? Primarily, it stems from basic survival instincts. An individual does not have all of the skills to survive alone in nature. How does being socially connected make us more resilient to change? It makes us recognise that other people are required to bring the appropriate skills and values to successfully complete a project.    Have you ever spent a couple of days creating a project plan, only to find that Mandla has already created a fantastic template? What takes me a whole day and plenty of yelling at my computer takes Mandla 5 minutes. If I had connected with Mandla, we would have worked together as a team, eliminating any duplication and leveraging each other’

Adopt a flexible approach No, this does not mean that you need to be a contortionist or agree with everything.    What I mean by a  flexible approach  is being conscious of your own knee-jerk reaction to change. The minute anyone proposes something new, how do  YOU  react? Are you open-minded, with your head tilted, shoulders down and body relaxed as you listen with interest or do you automatically frown, cross your arms and dig your heels in, gearing up for a defensive stand before the person has even said one word? I think the majority of us tend to first dig in and cross our arms, presenting a strong resistant front. Look at the Catholic Church’s reaction when Galileo said the Earth rotated around the Sun and not the other way around. Don’t mention that to the Flat Earth Society! What do you think the effect would be if you were more curious and more open to a different point of view? Imagine where the world would be if Alexandre Flemming, the inventor of Penicillin

Be a problem solver How does being a problem solver build resilience to change? Well... if you are a problem solver, you will see a challenge, not as a problem but rather a situation waiting for the right solution! If you see a picture of Mount Kilimanjaro do you think “Phew too big” or do you start planning a route, finding guides and getting the right equipment? When you are first presented with a change, you think what can I do differently and how can we benefit from this? Here are a few questions I ask myself when presented with a challenge or a new situation: What is the real issue? Customers asked for longer branch opening hours because they wanted easier access to their cash 24 hours a day. So the preferred solution to the issue, was not for branches to stay open until 11pm but to install an ATM. Who knows more than me about this issue? Use lessons learnt or simply ask an SME, colleague or friend for support when trying to solve the problem. Don’t forget you

Have people skills There are lots of examples across the ages of people who ooze charm and charisma – Madiba, Princess Diana and Barrack Obama to name but a few. But are some people just naturally charismatic or can you work on it? I think you absolutely can develop your people skills and this will help strengthen your resilience to change! It’s also an essential part of building an engaging culture of leadership. I think the movie ‘Invictus’ has great examples of how to build your people skills in ‘The Madiba Way’. What simple things did Nelson Mandela do to uplift his team and an entire nation? My first thought is that he took time to understand  what is important to people . From small every day niceties like asking how his guard’s children were doing at school, to recognising that rugby is not just a sport but a way of life for many people. Madiba embraced the culture of his enemy and won peace for a nation. How does that translate to our reality? We all get invite

Be Proactive One of the things that we often fear is the fear of the unknown. We spend a lot of energy worrying about outcomes that never actually happen, because we are trying to avoid disruption to our daily routines. When we know what lies ahead, we can plan and make provision for the things we think we will need and also prepare for the unexpected. When we are proactive, we plan ahead as much as possible by thinking about solutions to potential issues that may arise. For example, when I know that I am going on a scuba trip, there are number of things I need to plan for if I want to ensure that I have the best time possible. There are things that I know I will have to always take with me, so I have a checklist of those things readily available. In fact a number of things need to be planned at least 3 to 6 weeks before hand; Is it oversea’s  – is my passport up to date, do I need a visa? Weather  - Is the temperature warmer or colder? Food & Beverages  –